Rebels v Reds: Teams
The Rebels will be without the in-form Jarrod Saffy for the visit of the Reds on Friday.
By Tony Curtis - Twitter: @SkySportsTC
Last Updated: 05/05/11 10:24am
The Rebels will be without the in-form Jarrod Saffy for the visit of the Reds on Friday.
Saffy has been one of the stars of the Rebels side this year, however a groin injury means he is replaced by Hoani MacDonald.
The Rebels will also be without Danny Cipriani and Richard Kingi after the duo were stood down for breaching team rules.
That means Sam Cordingley and Afusipa Taumoepeau will start on the bench, with Nic Henderson also named among the replacements.
The Reds have been buoyed by the news that James Slipper and Ben Daley have been passed fit for the trip to Melbourne.
Bolster
Slipper and Daley come straight back into the front row, while Digby Ioane has been passed fit to start on the wing.
Coach Ewen McKenzie has also recalled Saia Faingaa, Rob Simmons, Radike Samo and Anthony Faingaa for the clash.
"We have the opportunity to bolster our starting side with six current Wallabies this week, for what is an important derby game for us," said McKenzie.
"The Rebels are a completely different team playing in Melbourne so we aren't going into the game with any misconceptions to the challenge we are going to face.
"Slipper passed his fitness test earlier in the week with flying colours and he is raring to go after missing the past two games."
Rebels: 15 Julian Huxley, 14 Lachlan Mitchell, 13 Mark Gerrard, 12 Stirling Mortlock (capt), 11 Peter Betham, 10 James Hilgendorf, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Gareth Delve, 7 Michael Lipman, 6 Hoani Macdonald, 5 Hugh Pyle, 4 Alister Campbell, 3 Greg Somerville, 2 Ged Robinson, 1 Laurie Weeks.
Replacements: 16 Heath Tessmann, 17 Nic Henderson, 18 Hoani Macdonald, 19 Tim Davidson, 20 Sam Cordingley, 21 Cooper Vuna, 22 Afusipa Taumoepeau.
Reds: 15 Ben Lucas, 14 Luke Morahan, 13 Anthony Faingaa, 12 Mike Harris, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Radike Samo, 7 Beau Robinson, 6 Scott Higginbotham, 5 James Horwill (c), 4 Rob Simmons, 3 James Slipper, 2 Saia Faingaa, 1 Ben Daley.
Replacements:16 James Hanson, 17 Greg Holmes, 18 Adam Wallace-Harrison, 19 Leroy Houston, 20 Jake Schatz, 21 Will Chambers, 22 Dom Shipperley.
